


Finding Faith

by feelskilledthefangirl



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Angel Dean, Angel Dean Winchester, Angel Sam, Angel Sam Winchester, Angel Siblings, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Apocalypse, BAMF Castiel, BAMF Dean, BAMF Gabriel, BAMF Sam, BAMF Sam Winchester, Big Brother Dean, Big Brother Gabriel, F/M, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Human Castiel, Human Gabriel, Hunter Castiel, Hunter Gabriel, Little Brother Castiel, Little Brother Sam, M/M, Protective Castiel, Protective Dean Winchester, Protective Gabriel, Protective Sam Winchester, Protective Siblings, Sibling Love, Siblings, Smut, Supernatural Reverseverse, Vessels, reverse verse, reverseverse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-08
Updated: 2016-03-10
Packaged: 2018-04-15 08:49:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4600470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feelskilledthefangirl/pseuds/feelskilledthefangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam is scared and excited when Michael gives him his first mission down on earth. His job is to protect the Novak brothers, Castiel and Gabriel, at all costs. It is crucial that these boys stay alive and out of trouble. However, things end up going a little less than smoothly when the mission takes a turn for the worst. The angels now must rely on Dean and call him in as a reinforcement to ensure this mission doesn't get led astray. The fate of the Novak's future now rests on Sam and Dean's shoulders. Will they be able to stick with their heavenly mission or will they break under the pulling temptations of human life on earth?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Assignments

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fandom_society](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandom_society/gifts).



> Alright, so I am surprising my friend Fandom Society by writing this fic for him in the hopes of making him smile. 
> 
> #Alwayskeepfighting

Sam stood in a large, old 1930’s styled library pacing back and forth tirelessly. The room was one that he knew well. It was full of countless books about creatures long gone and dead and many more about creatures that still existed today. Off to the side of the room sat three rather large faded blue sofas that were actually fairly comfortable when reading for long hours. In the center of the sofas rested a small oak coffee table laden with books (nearly all of them were titles that Sam had picked out and still had yet to read). Not far from the sofas, in the very center of the room sat an ancient engraved oak table. Around the beautifully engraved table were nearly a dozen chairs spaced evenly apart. Each chair was just as grand and magnificent as the ones beside it, yet each one was slightly different and unique in its own way. The floors were made of hard dark wood that helped to soften the look of the room as it contrasted against the fading red/orange brick walls. This glorious room was once a bunker and safe haven for traveling hunters down on earth. Sam was didn’t know if this bunker was still in use today but he was sure that the building was probably still standing (though he had never been allowed to search for it). Being the good mannered angel that he was, Sam chose simply chose not to question the rules and simply enjoyed the bunkers glory from the heaven of an old man, who had called himself a ‘Man of Letters’.

This was personally Sam’s favorite place in heaven and it usually helped him relax and calm down when he was stressed. Unfortunately, today was not one of those days. Sam was pretty sure that there was nothing that could calm him down at this point.

Sam paced back and forth across the soft marble floors; his dark red and brown tipped wings were folded carefully behind him and quivering softly with anxiety. He had been pacing like this for at least ten minutes already. Before that, he had been tapping his leg and chewing his fingernails down to the nubs. Sam couldn’t help it though; he had plenty of reasons to be nervous right now. There was so much riding on his shoulders now. Maybe he should try reading to distract himself.

"Dude, can you fucking chill already?" Came his brother's voice from across the room, interrupting Sam’s nervous breakdown.

Sam paused and glanced up at the other angel. Dean, his freckle faced brother was watching him with a look of obvious irritation as his green eyes glinted softly. Sam chewed his lip as he forced himself to stand in place, waiting for Dean to say something else.

Sam squirmed uncomfortably under Dean's intense gaze as the silence between them stretched on. His brother was just staring at him blankly, holding a book in his hands as he watched Sam silently.

After a minute of this, Sam scrunched his forehead in confusion and began to wonder what book Dean was even reading. The logical part of his angelic brain began to kick in and over analyses the situation. For as long as he could remember, Dean typically disliked reading unless he was really really bored. Normally only reason Dean ever came to this heaven was because Sam was always here. Sam was pretty sure that Dean would never have even stepped foot into this heaven otherwise. When Sam leaned his head slightly to the side he was able to catch a glimpse of the books cover. Dean was apparently _‘reading’_ an encyclopedia.  Sam didn’t even know that this library even had a normal encyclopedia. Most of the books in here were about monsters and mystical creatures.

If Sam wasn't so nervous then he probably would laughed at Dean. At this point he was almost positive that behind that encyclopedia Dean was looking one of his favorite human porno mags, Busty Asian Beauties. Although Sam himself didn't read porn or necessarily endorse it, he had no objection to letting Dean read them. (Not that Dean would even listen if Sam said anything about it anyways. His brother would probably just roll his eyes at him and keep on reading.)

Finally, Dean closed his book and set it down on the table as he asked, "Well? Are you gonna just stare at me with that 'taking a shit' look on your face or are you gonna tell me what's got your wings in a bunch?"

Sam shrugged softly and looked down at the pristine floor beneath his feet. “You know what I’m worried about….” Sam muttered, not meeting his brother’s brilliant green eyes.

“Aw, dude… Sammy come on… Are you still worrying about your assignment?” Dean asked as he leaned forward in his chair.

Sam walked towards the table and pulled out a chair to sit in beside Dean. “Yeah, well kinda. How can I not be worried about it?” He mumbled.

“Dude just relax okay? Don’t over think it.” Dean said as he tried to calm Sam’s haywire nerves.

"I mean… I guess watching after a human charge shouldn't be too difficult could it?" Sam asked his brother Dean curiously.

He was mostly looking for Dean to agree just to boost his confidence about this whole thing. Apparently Dean didn’t get the message because he scrunched his face up in distaste as he said, "Don't bank on that Sammy. Humans are rash and unpredictable at best. Douches at worst."

“Thanks Dean… that makes me feel so much better…” Sam grumbled with a roll of his eyes.

“Hey, don’t worry though. Once you get past their overbearing personalities, the rest should be easy.”  Dean said with what he thought was a comforting smile.

“But what if it’s not? What if I screw up Dean?" Sam shot at his brother in irritation.

"Just trust me Sam. You’ll do fine." Dean advised him. “Hey, by the way, you might wanna cut your hair before you go.”

Sam looked at him in confusion and asked, “Why?”

“Well I don’t know. People might think your Jesus or something with hair like that. Well… or they might think you’re a chick at least.” Dean said with a smug smirk playing on his lips.

Sam sighed and said, “Dean this isn’t funny. Besides, what does it matter if they think I’m a chick? Human genders don’t matter to us and the only time angelic genders even matter is when it comes to trying to find a mate for reproduction and you know that.”

Dean rolled his eyes; most angels didn’t even try to look for mates these days. They had all been away from earth and monsters for so long that it was rare for an angel to die. Dean couldn’t even remember the last time an angel had been killed. Since more angels were living, there wasn’t really any need for more angels to be made. Sam was actually born in one of the last waves of angel’s to be made.  Unlike down on earth, angels didn’t reproduce to create families, they reproduced for duty. They wanted to ensure that there were enough angels’ to fight and keep their army adequately supplied. Dean was willing to bet that Sam hadn’t seen his ‘parents’ in thousands of years. Hell, when Sam had been born into existence Dean had been summoned to see they newborn angel. Michael had told Dean that this angelic child went by the name of Samuel and he was going to be a part of the garrison under Dean’s charge when he was old enough.  From the moment Dean had looked into those chocolate puppy dog eyes he knew he was screwed. After that day he made it his mission to properly raise and care for the little angel who would one day be placed in his garrison. However, instead of creating a father/son relationship between them, Dean’s childlike nature actually resulted with him and Sam bonding more as brothers than anything else.

Once Sam had gotten his vessel, Dean had always tried to get Sam to cut his hair, but Sam had always refused. He liked his hair long, no matter what Dean tried to tell him. Sam never planned on cutting it. He liked it the length that it was and it wasn’t like his hair was going to grow unless he wanted it to. None the less, Dean always teased Sam about it to no end.

“So what dude! The vessel you’re currently in is a dude!” Dean exclaimed.

“Yeah, so? I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve taken on a female vessel before.” Sam snapped. His brother had always seemed to care about gender a lot more than the other angels did.

“Well yeah… I did once, but… I wasn’t a fan, it felt like more of a curse than anything. Bras kinda suck so I went back to being a guy. It’s more fun this way, trust me.” Dean taunted him as he waggled his eyebrows. “I’d much rather just bang a chick than be one, although banging guys is pretty great as both genders too.”

“You’re impossible Dean…” Sam grumbled as he shook his head in disgust. When Sam really thought about it, Dean was such a disgrace the name of the angels. Angels were supposed to be pure creatures, but Dean seemed to have missed the memo. Sam swore that sometimes Dean was more human than angel. Despite all that, Sam still loved his brother unconditionally (even if he could be an annoying little shit at times).

“Don’t be like that! You’re just jealous that I’ve actually been with someone.” Dean said with a soft smirk.

Sam sighed and said, "Yeah, well I think you're just jealous that I'm the one who gets to go down on earth and watch after someone important…”

"Oh yeah I'm completely jealous that you’re getting sent down to earth to basically be tied to those two hunter dumbasses." Dean said rolling his eyes in exasperation.

"Stop it Dean. This could be a good opportunity to research the human race better and actually protect them. Michael probably gave me this assignment because he knows that  _I'll actually do my job and_  not fraternize with the human women _or the men_ on earth." Sam told Dean in a matter of fact tone.

" _Fraternize?_ Really dude? Don't you throw your fancy words at me Sam?" Dean shot back as he crossed his arms, his brown and gold tipped wings quivering where they were folded.

"See, I knew you were jealous!" Sam cried pointing an accusing finger at Dean, "I knew you wanted to go down to earth, Michael must think I'm the more capable one out of the two of us!"

"Blah blah blah-  _Michael must think I'm the capable one."_ Dean said in a high pitched mocking tone as he made fun of his brother. Putting his voice back to normal Dean spit; Just shut the fuck up Sam. I can go wherever the hell I wanna go whenever the hell I want. Just because angels ‘aren’t allowed to go down to earth doesn’t mean I won’t go anyways. Don’t think that Michael thinks your better just cause you got bigger wings than me!"

Sam smirked at his brother’s comment about the wings. Dean actually had six sets of wings, all archangels did, but Sam’s wings were still quite a bit bigger than his brothers.  "Yeah okay Dean. Whatever you say Dean." Sam said with a smirk. He knew he had beaten Dean for once. It was actually a pleasant change. Dean was _actually_ jealous of Sam’s wings. They were very large and dramatic with dark red feathers at the top that transitioned into a deep brown the further down you looked. At the very tips of his wings, Sam even had soft glistening gold feathers that shown beautifully in the light.

Dean’s wings on the other hand were much different. They were by no mean’s something that anyone would call ‘small’ but they certainly weren’t as big as Sam’s. To be completely honest, Dean’s wings almost reminded him of butterfly wings. His wings were soft and almost delicate looking, though Sam knew better than to think that anything about Dean was delicate. His first set of wings were long and flowing, glistening a beautiful golden color. The golden color traveled down to his second set of wings getting lighter and lighter until you reached his final set of wings, which were smaller and fluffier. These wings were a brownish almost silver color that glowed faintly in the light.

If you asked Sam, his brother’s wings were very beautiful. In fact, if you asked most of the angel’s in heaven (especially the female angels) they would began to fawn over detailed descriptions of the archangel’s radiant wings.

“Shut the hell up Sam.” Dean grumbled in irritation. Dean knew Sam had beaten him, but he was just too proud to admit it. So he just used swearing as his defense mechanism.  That was something that had always done. Well at least for as long as Sam knew him.

Sam however, almost never swore, but Dean was always running his mouth and getting himself into trouble, Sam never really minded it all that much unless he did something really stupid. Sam was sure that he was the only one Dean ever opened up to. He didn’t really know why, but Dean had taken a liking to him from the moment he had been born. Dean had kinda just always been there to keep him in line and watch after him. There were no boundaries between the two of them.

Although all angels were brothers and sisters to one another Dean and Sam seemed to have formed a stronger bond than most of the other angels. They were kind of like Michael and Lucifer in one way, but they were much closer than the other two had ever been.

In fact, a few years ago Dean actually found the two of them vessels down on earth, even though angels were still actually been forbidden to visit earth. Even so, Dean had always been a rule breaker so he had slipped down to earth and found vessels for him and Sam. Dean had told Sam that their vessel’s surnames had been ‘ _Winchester’_.

Their story was actually quite tragic. They had been two brothers who lost everything when they were little, but still stuck together through it all. When Dean had found the boys they had both been dying as a result of a horrible car crash that left them both struggling for life.

When Dean got to them, he told the boys that there was no way that either of them would live though this and that they didn’t have long left to live. Somehow, Dean had convinced the two boys to let go and move onto the afterlife while passing their bodies onto him and Sam. 

When the agreed, Dean had been ecstatic, especially since both of the Winchester boys were compatible vessels for him them (which wasn’t always an easy thing to find).

Dean had told Sam that part of the reason that he picked these boys was because they too had a close bond. According to Dean those brothers ended up even sharing a heaven which was very rare. Dean believed that using the Winchester vessels would only strengthen the angelic bond that Sam and Dean shared. (Though even now, many years later Dean still complained about how he's the older angel, but ended up with the shorter vessel.)

As Dean glared at Sam’s smug face, the flapping of wings announced the arrival of a new guest in this little blissful heaven.

"Hello Samuel, Hello Denuel.” Michael said as he appeared close to Sam.  

Though Michael was not paying attention to Dean, Dean still grumbled, "its Dean..."

Meanwhile, Sam shot Dean a look that clearly said,  _'Shut up Dean. Do you really need to do this now?'_

Dean pursed his lips bitterly but somehow managed to hold his tongue much to Sam’s surprise (for now at least). His brother was very good at voicing his thoughts and opinions when he was angry his words became very… colorful to say the least.

Because of Dean’s determination to say whatever he wanted, everyone in heaven knew that Dean hated his angel name. However, most of the angels still refused to call Dean by his nickname, which usually resulted in a cold _‘fuck you’_ or angry silence glare that Dean called, a _‘Sam level bitch face’_.

Over the years Dean had gained the reputation of giving nicknames to the other angel’s as well as to himself. It had been this way from the moment that Sam had been conjured into existence ten million years ago. Hell, the first time the two of them met Dean had given him the nickname _‘Sammy’._

Dean normally would get really pissed when people called him his real name. It was a scary thing to witness actually. There had been a few times in fact when Sam had to drag his brother away before the angel blades started flying.

Sometimes Sam wondered what actually went on in Dean’s head. He was strangely over protective of Sam and only Sam. Dean usually avoided most of the other angels.

 Dean was also not one to talk about himself or the past. There were just somethings that he never spoke about. Sam was more than aware that his brother was somewhere near four or five million years older than him, but it was hard to believe it. In fact, Dean was one of the oldest angels in heaven, an archangel like Michael, Lucifer, and Raphael. Dean had been one of their fathers first four guardians of the earth. Of all of the archangels, Dean had the least amount of authority since he was the youngest. However he still did what he wanted to and was the only one who was actually genuinely kind to the other angels (especially towards Sam).

Despite Dean’s age, he always acted like such a child, sometimes more childish then even youngest angels, but if Sam looked long enough he could also see the great age in his brother’s eyes. Buried in those green eyes was also a glimmer of dark sadness and longing that only came with age. Sam always wondered what had been traumatic enough to affect Dean like that. His brother was tough and didn’t let shit get to him very easily, but something in his lifetime had changed Dean and made him the way he was now, the way that Sam had always known him to be.

Sam slowly pulled himself from his thoughts and looked away from Dean to bring his attention back to Michael.

He stood respectfully, keeping his face clear of all emotions as he faced Michael. Sam couldn’t let the archangel see just how nervous he was about this assignment that he had been given. As Sam carefully made sure that his wings were carefully folded up behind his back as a sign of submission and respect for the older angel as he approached with a serious look on his face.

As Michael walk closer, Sam could hear Dean's dark brown and gold wings flutter and puff up ever so slightly. It was a known fact that Dean and Michael got along poorly. Sam prayed that his brother would have enough patience to get through this short encounter with Michael.

“Are you ready to go Samuel?" Michael asked Sam as he turned to look at the 6’4 angel standing respectfully in front of him.

"Yes Michael. I believe I am ready for my mission." Sam answered as calmly as he could muster.

"Good. Now, remember, these boys have never encountered an angel before and they probably won't take to kindly to you at first, but it is crucial that we keep them  _both_ alive."

"Yo Mikey, ya know… since there are two of them, wouldn't it be best if two angels went to watch after them? I mean I can tag along with Sammy to-" Dean tried to speak to Michael, using the archangels least favorite nickname but he was interrupted before he could finish.

"No Denuel. As of now, we only need one angel stationed with the Novak’s. I will inform you if you need to join our brother."

"But-"

"Denuel, we are not arguing about this." Michael's voice was stern and unswayable as he gave Dean a withering look.

Sam watched from the corner of his eye as Dean promptly flipped Michael off the moment he looked away as he grumbled, “Just because you’re the oldest doesn’t make you the friggin king douche of everything. No one is the boss of me.”

Michael just glanced towards Dean with a hard scowl carved onto his face. Sam almost thought they were gonna start fighting, but Michael simply turned away after a minute of glaring at Dean and said, "It's about time for you to get going now Samuel. Go fetch everything you need."

Sam nodded and said, "Thank you so much for this opportunity Michael."

"You cannot mess this up Samuel." Michael said looking back at Sam with a dark look in his face. "You _mustn't_ mess up. We are all counting on you. Heaven needs you to keep those boys safe. You know what this means for us."

Sam swallowed hard. There was so much riding on keeping the Novak's alive. He hoped that he had what it took. Part of him wished that Dean was coming with him, but that would be an argument for another time. First of all, Sam needed to gain the trust of both Novak boys.

"I won't let you down Michael." Sam said with a respectful nod of his head.

Michael simply turned on his heels and said, "Please report in as frequently as possible, and stay on task." As he turned and flew off, wings flapping softly without even giving them a second glance

Sam carefully relaxed his tense wings and turned to Dean. "I suppose this is goodbye then brother. I will see you soon right?"

A small, yet sad smile pulled at the corner of Dean's mouth as he answered, "I'll be right up here waiting for you Sammy. Just call to me if you need me, I'll be here. Don’t let the people down there get to you alright?"

Something that almost resembled pain flashed in Dean’s eyes, but it had passed by so quickly that Sam wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination.

Sam smiled back and stepped in to give Dean a massive hug. Dean was a little shocked at first, but none the less his arms coiled around Sam’s waist while his brown and gold wings extended to encase Sam.

“Good luck Sammy.” Dean whispered into Sam’s long hair just before they broke from their embrace.  Then Sam turned to nod respectfully at Dean as he unfurled his wings and flew into the air with one massive pump of his long fluffy appendages.

Dean sighed sadly at his brother’s departure. He knew that Sam wouldn’t be permanently stationed down on earth, but the two of them still weren’t going to be able to see each other as much anymore. Part of him wanted to go down to earth with Sam to keep him out of trouble, but at the moment that was kinda forbidden.

Angel’s hadn’t been allowed down on earth in decades unless it was for the occasional holy mission (Dean personally liked experimenting with fate and tried to see how many times he could get down to earth without getting caught. He was pretty good at this game actually and he rarely got caught).

The bonding of Chuck and Becky Novak was one of those special occasions. The couple had needed that extra push to ensure that they would end up together. The boys that Sam was going to watch after were the Novak’s two sons, Castiel Novak and Gabriel Novak. Gabriel was the older brother who had a deep darkness inside of him that he was only partially aware of at this point. Cas on the other hand was the golden child, the savior, Gabriel’s younger brother who kept his big brother in line.  

Dean knew their story all too well, but then again there probably wasn’t an angel in heaven who didn’t know about these boys. They were famous around here and it was said that their hunting skills were phenomenal. Their future had been predicted Milena’s ago. Well the major parts of it had anyways the rest of it was kinda fuzzy until it actually happened.

Dean knew that these boys were both physiologically scared beyond repair due to the tragedy that they had faced over the years. They had lost their mother Becky to a house fire caused by a demon. Gabriel had been three when this happened, a demon by the name Azazel had crept into his room and put his own demonic blood into Gabriel’s body. Unfortunately, Gabriel had awoken and seen the evil yellow glowing eyes and screamed for his mother. Becky had torn into the room only to be killed tragically by the demon. When their father Chuck came running into the room soon after he nearly broke down right there. In a moment of clarity (which was partly prompted by some angelic help) Chuck had rushed Gabriel out of the room and into the room beside that to grab six month old baby Castiel.

Chuck had thrust the baby into Gabriel arms and demanded that he run outside as fast as he could. When Chuck finally realized that there was no way to save his wife he hurriedly ran after his two little boys.

None of them had been the same after that day.

When Gabriel had told his father what had happened, Chuck set out on an ambitious mission to find the creature that killed his wife. He quickly learned that there really were reasons to be afraid of the dark and monsters really did exist. Chuck wanted to interrogate every monster he met and stop them before anyone else lost their family because of some supernatural creature.

In the process he dragged along his two boys with him. Whenever Chuck couldn’t take Gabriel constant, “Is mom coming back” questions and Castiel’s cries for his mother to hold him he would drop them both off with a man by the name of Bobby Singer.

As the years passed on Gabriel began to blame himself for his mother’s death. He believed that if he hadn’t shouted for his mom that she would still be alive. In fact, Gabriel wasn’t the only one who blamed himself. Chuck never actually said it, but Gabriel was sure that his father felt the same way. His father and him almost never got along and this resulted in many arguments that Castiel normally had to intervene into.

Castiel on the other hand followed his father’s lead adamantly, but he hated the business. Though he hated this business his father placed so much stock in him and made Castiel feel like he couldn’t leave the business. Chuck put all the weight onto his youngest son’s shoulders and made him feel like he was the one who had to watch after Gabriel instead of the other way around. Castiel took on this heavy burden without complaint and most of the time it felt like he had raised Gabriel better than his father had. Secretly, Castiel hoped that one day Gabriel could get out of this job. Maybe his brother would be able to get away from the life. Castiel’s mission was always to keep his older brother in line and make sure he stayed out of too much trouble, but that was always a little easier said than done.  As soon as Gabriel graduated he had run off to college to become a chief much to Chuck’s displeasure. Castiel was torn apart when his brother just up and left him with Chuck, but he was still happy that Gabriel was getting out of the business. Castiel knew that there was no ‘ _out’_ for him.

Then, a few years later, their father went missing looking for the demon that had killed Becky. That’s when things were really launched into motion.

Gabriel, who had a girlfriend by the name of Kali died in a fire the same was that his mom had. They tracked down the fire to a demon named Meg. Little did anyone know that Meg wasn’t really the one who had killed Kali. It was so top secret that not even Meg knew that she had been set up. Kali’s death had in fact been the work of the angels.

Some of the higher ranks of heaven had decided to set that up to motivate Gabriel to take action and start hunting again.

After that, the Novak’s story got a little bit fuzzy up in heaven. The angel’s knew that they had fought Azazel and they also knew that Gabriel had died, but was brought back.

This was the part that got a little bit complicated.

It was known that Castiel went a little crazy without his brother and tried to make a demon deal to get him back. However, at the same time there were angels at work bringing Gabriel back to life. None of them had expected Castiel to sell his soul to bring his brother back.

None of the angels were sure if the deal had been closed and brought Gabriel back or if the angels down on earth had brought him back. They all figured they would find out in about ten years if it was Castiel’s demon deal that had brought Gabriel back.  However, for right now that didn’t matter, both boys were alive and that was the only thing they cared about.

These boys were destined to become the vessels of Michael and Lucifer should a fight between the two archangels ever became necessary. This was the coming storm that all angels in heaven foresaw happening one day.

Personally, Dean hoped that this fight would never become a reality since he knew that it would just cause huge brother vs brother scuffle up in holy ranks of heaven. It was basically just a lot of unnecessary family fighting that Dean really didn’t want to deal with.

The only question about all of this was the _when_. All the angels knew the why and the where for this fight, but none of them knew when it would happen.

A storm was coming. A big one too, but nobody knew when this storm was due to arrive.

In the silence of the room Dean sighed. Heaven already seemed to feel darker without the glowing face of Sam cheering the place up. His brother wasn’t the funniest angel in his garrison, but he surely had sass that you could sense a mile away. Without him, Dean felt a pressing loneliness inside his chest.

Dean could feel that something was changing in heaven; maybe the coming storm was much closer than he had anticipated.  He sure hoped he was wrong. Dean didn’t think heaven, hell or earth were quite ready for what the future held.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Uriel flashing in the room with a frantic popping sound. Uriel didn’t really care much for human vessels so normally he just did without one like now. Dean was gazing upon his brother’s true form towering above him as he panted breathlessly.

When he could form words Uriel gasped, “We need you Denuel. _Now.”_


	2. Too Soon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the ridiculous time between updates you guys! I just have too much too do and to many fanfics started all at once and no time to do anything... I hope you guys enjoy! :)
> 
> Special thanks to baby_bee_bugg on wattpad for beta-ing this chapter! <3

"So why was I dragged in here again?" Dean asked as he looked around the large room. He hated this room.  Dean usually tried to stay away from this corner of heaven as best he could, but being an archangel made that pretty impossible. This was where he and the other archangels gathered to discuss their many angelic problems. Normally, Dean tried not to involve himself in all the angelic political bullshit because it was usually pretty damn far from a 'heavenly' experience. 

There was always so much fighting between his brothers and sisters; someone was almost always on the verge of getting impaled with an angel blade. His family was just a bunch of self-righteous assholes. Their bickering always made Dean want to douse himself in a gallon of holy oil just to get away from the fighting. Anything would be less painful the hearing Michael argue in the name of dear ol’ daddy.

Dean's dislike for angel meetings was well known by the other archangels.  It had gotten to the point where Michael wouldn’t even request Dean’s participation anymore.  It wasn’t because Dean wasn’t important – he was one of four archangels – it was the fact that he just didn’t care how things boiled down to in the end.

After a few million years Dean was pretty tired of listening to the same shit over and over again.  Dean would rather be hanging out with Sammy instead.  Sam was a much younger angel than Dean was so it was interesting to watch him grow and change as he flitted around heaven like the Tasmanian devil. Dean swore that the kid had too much energy for his own good.

Dean’s thoughts turned back to this ‘meeting’ and he scowled at the boring plain walls and the boring plain table. Although he hadn’t come into this room in about two hundred years, Dean still remembered it clear as day.

“I see that you’re decorating style hasn’t gotten any better in two hundred years Michael,” Dean commented as he looked at his oldest brother.

Like always, Michael was sitting at the head of the table, his 6 sets of pearly white wings standing proudly behind him. His many faces reflected the same flat, unimpressed look as usual while his hands were folded on the table in front of him.

Uriel, who had brought Dean here in the first place, silently brushed past Dean and left the room. Uriel was no longer needed; he had simply been a messenger for Dean. He wasn’t an archangel so he had no right to attend this meeting.  Dean clicked his tongue and slowly moved towards his seat.

As he sat Dean eyed the angel sitting on Michael’s right. That was where Raphael sat, it always had been. Each and every one of them had their own chairs at the table. From what he could tell, no one had sat in Dean’s seat since the day he stopped coming to these meetings.

“We have no time for jokes today Denuel.” Michael said sharply.

“Clearly…” Dean mumbled as he took his seat.  He tried to ignore the empty chair at the opposite end of the table. That seat was Lucifer’s. The two oldest brothers were supposed to sit at opposite ends of the table while the two youngest, Raphael and himself, took their places between the two head chairs. Dean was the youngest of the archangels and Michael had always looked down on him for that. He took more interest in Raphael, probably because he didn’t have that spark of defiance in his eyes like Dean did. On the other hand, Lucifer had always taken to Dean on a special level. The two of them had always enjoyed playing pranks on the other two archangels but that time of happiness had long since passed.

As Dean adjusted himself in his seat, he noted that as usual he was the only one who was wearing their human vessel. Michael didn’t have his because he wasn’t ripe yet and well, Raphael broke his vessel years ago. He had always been very good at breaking his toys.

Dean glanced across the table at Raphael who looked sat cold and stony as ever. Then Dean averted his attention to Michael as his older brother fixed him with that famous icy stare of his. 

Dean rolled his eyes and lazily reclined in the chair as he waited for someone to finally tell him what was going on.

He hoped that this meeting wouldn’t take too long. He wasn’t even sure why he had agreed to come.

"Now that we are all here, I am in need of your assistance Denuel," Michael said, his loud voices from his many mouths filling the room authoritatively.

"Yeah I grasped that much, but what in the holy hell do you need from me?  I mean are you gonna beat around the burning bush this whole time or are you going to get to the point sometime in this century?" Dean shot back as he rocked his chair slowly from side to side.

Dean’s lip pursed in annoyance when neither of his brothers laughed at Dean's joke, but honestly should have expected that kind of response. None of the other angels really had a sense of humor. It was a major bummer if you asked him. It wasn't his fault that almost all his sibling had righteous sticks shoved up their holy asses. It was times like this that he wished Lucifer was back so he had someone to joke with. Why did he have to go all dark side on them?

Since Lucifer was gone, Sammy was the only one who really got his jokes, although, sometimes even Sam didn’t even understand and Dean would have to explain.

While Dean scowled to himself Michael continued to speak. "The youngest Novak, my true vessel, as you know was damned to spend all eternity in hell." His brother’s tone was flat and dry as he spoke.

"Yeah, and? Wasn’t that supposed to be the plan all along or did I fall asleep in history class again?" Dean asked. He wasn’t about to let up on the sarcasm. Dean needed something to keep him entertained.

Dean knew that the world was supposed to end with the Novaks; they were to bring on the apocalypse in due time. They had been told that back from the beginning of time it was destiny. However, not all the angels were fully aware of this plan, but being an archangel Dean had the luxury of knowing more than the other, lower-class angels.  That oaf Gabriel was supposed to do something even more stupid than normal to bring forth the apocalypse while his little brother rotted away in hell. Although, Dean wasn’t really sure _how_ he was going to start the apocalypse, but he knew it was going to happen. Michael generally kept that little secret between him and Raphael. 

"Yes that is the plan, but something has changed,” Michael told him in that same flat voice. “Now we must send an army down into hell to save him and we need you to help us lead the army."

"Why now?" Dean asked as he leaned forward, pressing his weight onto the table. "I mean, you've let him rot down there for months, what’s with the big rush all of a sudden? I don’t want to run into this thing blind."

"We've figured out Lucifer's true intentions. He intends to use Castiel to break the first seal to free himself," Michael explains gravely.

Dean's eyes grow wide as he breathes, “Oh.”

Lucifer wasn't supposed to be popped from his box just yet. Yeah, the apocalypse would happen, Michael and Lucifer would have a show down ‘Jerry Springer style’ times a thousand and then world would burn down around them. That right there was the bottom line, at the end of it, one his brothers were going to face a very bloody end.

But Dean could now see what was truly bothering Michael. Although his collection of faces remained free of emotion Dean could see the stress in his wings. Looking closer, Dean could see the way Michael’s wings puffed up, not with dominance like he had first assumed, but in fear. Michael was scared. Never once in Dean’s eternal life had he ever seen his older brother scared like this.

Michael’s true vessel hadn’t yet been freed from hell so if Lucifer found it and destroyed it there would be some serious problems.  If Michael couldn't reach his true vessel and Lucifer could, this cage match would get whole lot worse. Once that first seal was broken, Castiel’s soul would no longer be needed.

Cas wasn’t supposed to be the first seal, this was going against the rules.

“How is he doing it? He’s still locked up right?” Dean asked.

“Yes, he is still in the cage, but he has enlisted some of his more… nasty demons to carry out his plans for him. Lilith being one of them and Alistair, Lucifer’s finest student is being used to torment Castiel as we speak. There isn’t long before that seal is broken so we must act fast.”

“And it is written that the first seal shall be broken when a righteous man sheds blood in hell. As he breaks… so shall it break…” Dean hummed under his breath.

Dean heard Michael sigh in distress. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. We must fix this before it gets too far. Denuel there is still time. The seal is still intact but we must hurry.”

“Why do you need me?” Dean asked in confusion.

“You were one of our finest generals back at the time of the great war. We need you to lead an army down into hell to raise my vessel from perdition.”

"So what, you're expecting me to 'save' this kid? What about you?  Why can’t you save him?" Dean snorted “He’s your vessel.”

“You know why Michael cannot go,” Raphael snapped coldly. “If Michael sets foot down in hell an utter uproar will start. He cannot be that close to Lucifer before the time is right. Our ranks are not prepared to handle the apocalypse just yet.

“Well, find someone else. I'm not interested in risking my ass to save the kid. You know that I want no part in this brotherly smack down. Why should I care if your vessel gets permanently destroyed? That would just stop the whole showdown all together right? End of story,” Dean scoffed, leaning back in his chair.

"Why are you fighting against this so hard? You know that this fight must happen!" Raphael demanded angrily.

"Who says that I give a rat’s ass? Why can't we just enjoy what we've already got going for us?" Dean snapped. “Why is it that whenever we have a family reunion it has to end bloody?”

"This is a necessary evil Denuel," Raphael said in a gruff voice. "And you know worse is to come as each seal breaks. I know how fond you are of earth, and if you don’t do this Lucifer will obtain his vessel and destroy that world. That is how he will make us pay for what happened to him.”

Michael's animal faces shifted, a wave of power floated from his being. Every angel in the room, including Dean shuddered from the sheer energy of it.

Yeah, the earth burning would hurt. He rather enjoyed spending time down there, but now that earthly visits had been banned, Dean didn’t care as much. It wasn’t like he had the luxury of enjoying it right now. As long as Sammy was up here with him, Dean would be willing to let the world crumble. Plus, he wouldn’t have to risk his ass by plunging into hell. That would not be a present trip by any means.

Michael turned all his eyes upon to Dean as he said, "You are aware that this journey will take place regardless. We must at least try to save my vessel and I want you to be aware that Samuel is also going to be included on this mission. It is highly unlikely that any of the angels will survive if you aren’t there to lead them."

“You son of a bitch,” Dean growled. They must have known that Dean was going to resist. This was their backup plan to make Dean to whatever they wanted him too. They toyed with his biggest weakness. Dean was beginning to realize why angels don’t normally get attached. It was such a human thing and it left him so vulnerable.

Dean’s time down on earth had shown him many human things, although he didn’t understand most of them. Things like love and passion were one of them, but he did know that he cared for Sam and couldn’t see anything happen to him. _That_ was extremely human and it made Dean hate himself.

Dean felt like his wings had been clipped. Michael was definitely the biggest dick in all of heaven. How dare Michael use Dean’s weakness against him?

His choices were either to risk his ass to save some snot nosed kid so heaven could patch the hole that was being torn in destiny or let Sammy all his other brothers and sisters walk blindly into hell to get themselves killed.

His options were just peachy. I mean, why should they care? Castiel didn’t even believe that God and angels even existed.  Was there really no one else who could do this?

The room was silent as Michael turned his back to Dean. He wasn't even trying to hide the smug look on each of his wild faces. He knew he had won.

Like always, Michael got exactly what he wanted.

 _'You self-righteous prick...'_ Dean thought to himself in disgust. _‘He thinks he so damn cool because he’s the oldest and makes up all the rules.’_

Dean sat in stony silence while his silence, while and said, "Send out a message to gather an army in five minutes. I want you to inform them of their new mission and I suppose since Denuel won’t lead, we will just have Samuel lead. "

Raphael nodded respectively and expanded his wings to fly off.

Before could take off Dean interjected and said, "Fine! Okay, I'll do it. I'll raise the kid from the dead, but… don’t send Sam."

Michael sneered at him in victory. "We all have our role to play Denuel; even we angels are a part of this glorious plan. I am sorry, but Sam is going regardless, but their success depends all on you."

Dean narrowed his eyes and shot daggers at his brother. His hand twitched towards the angel blade tucked into his leather jacket, but he stopped. In this form he would be destroyed at once and he probably couldn’t beat Michael in a fight if he tried. His brother was much stronger than Dean ever hopped to be.

Dean stood in anger and muttered under his breath, "Glorious my ass.  Nothing says family like bloody battles to the death."

Michael ignored Dean's comment and simply sent Dean a mental message of his apparently well versed and hopefully successful plan.

Three minutes later, Dean found himself standing in front of a crew of his siblings. There were about 30 of them in all, Sammy included.

Dean stood silently beside Michael and Raphael as they quickly briefed the others of the plan.

When his brothers were finished, all 30 pairs of eyes turned to Dean. Everyone was in their true forms now.

Dean had left his vessel in a safe location and advised Sam to do the same with his own. Their vessels wouldn’t stand much of a chance down in hell and if they did make it through hell, they would need a lot of repair work to make them whole again. It simply wasn’t worth the effort.

Dean stretched his dark green wings back behind him. They felt stiff from being squished inside a human body so Dean discreetly tried to shake them out.

“Denuel,” Michael said to get Dean’s attention.

Dean turned one of his heads to look at his brother. “Remember this mission is of the utmost importance. Castiel must be recovered at all costs, and we must try to stop that seal from breaking.”

Dean nodded. He knew his mission. Now it was time to go into autopilot. Dean was becoming the obedient soldier once again. He had a whole army and the fate of heaven resting on his shoulders. Now was not the time to regret his decision.

As he turned back to his army Dean forced himself to ignore the questions that were burning in his mind.

_‘Will this even work?’_

_‘What if I fail?’_

_‘How many of my brothers and sisters won’t make it back?’_

_‘Will I even make it back?’_

Dean’s eyes scanned the faces before him. Finally, he let his eyes rest on Sam; his true form was glowing with both fear and excitement at this new mission. Sam sure was an adventurous one. Dean watched as Sam gave him a small smile. That smile gave Dean the boost of confidence to launch his army.

He let out a loud war cry as he took to the sky and flew down to hell, 30 soldiers on his flank.

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you who are curious, Dean's Angel Name is pronounced by basically saying Den (like an animal den), the letter 'U' adding 'L' at the end. 
> 
> 'Den-u- el'


End file.
